Vintage Tires

[william]

I need to replace my Michelin xwx. I was looking for a nice looking vintage tire. Any thoughts.

I know that Michelin now has the xvs

Anybody run vredestein classic sport? Any photos of the side wall?

Thanks again.

[Dr. Ian Levy]

Hello William
Michelin still manufacture occasional batches of XWX that are available in the UK if that is what you want to fit. I would assume they are available in the US
They are available from
www.longstonetyres.co.uk
&
www.vintagetyres.com

Regards
Ian L
UK

[Jimmyr]

William, check with Coker on the XWX's, they contract for them at times. Jim

[Yale]

I have heard the vredestein is not what you want but hell I never tried so if you do you can tell us. This is what it looks like:



Oh my god, my first posted photo and it worked! Anyway I have friends (actually a) who get Vredesteins for free and they/he seems to like them. But I have heard they are not better then XWX's from people who sell the Vredesteins. Not really a lot of choices out there, Dunlap racing? No good for rain so that rules out the UK. Sometimes they make old style Pirellis but I hear these also are not as good as the XWX's. After 3 sets of XWX's I changed to Pirelli P-4000s, not as nice looking but a better ride for the New York City area's rough pavement.
Yale

[william]

Ian, thanks for the links. I could not find xwx in 185HR15 in either site. I found XAS, and XVS.

Jim, I spoke to Coker only XVS and XVS-P in 185HR15. @$255. and $198. a tire. I think the XVS is V rated? and the XVS-p is H rated with a Curb guard. Not sure what the curb guard looks like? Thanks

Yale, the pirellis are probably better tires, no doubt. But I would like to keep a vintage look.

I like the price of the Vredestein something like $130. a tire. Not sure what I going to buy, may end up with the P4000's. But I need to buy some tires by march/April.

The funny thing is my XWX tires look brand new, however, not sure how old they are. Hard as a rock! My guess is they were put on the car in the mid 90's.

Thanks guys

[Jimmyr]

William, although the Coker web site does not list XWX's, they do on occasion have special (expensive) runs of these on a limited basis. I purchased a set of 205 XWXs for my 275, but they only made a run of 400 and sold out in advance to those who got the word. Try calling Corky and ask if they plan to run the XWX patterns in the future. Jim

[Timo]

William,

as You did mentioned, You weren't sure of the age of Your tires. It can be determined by "date of manufacture" code printed on the sidewall
of each tire. Any competent tire shop should be able dicipher it for You.
And as I believe, general rule-of-thumb is that if this "d.o.m." is more than 6 years old (some say 10 years as absolute maximum), tires should not be used in service, as they are too old and "dried-up", regardless of how good the threads appear.

[shill288]

As noted, Michelin, and Pirelli for that matter, do special runs of some of their vintage tyres that normally aren't kept in stock from time to time. Remember, Michelin has the molds, Coker, et. al., just have the distribution rights. So, it's up to Michelin to make the tyres. None of the Michelin vintage tyres are inexpensive. In my past life, Michelin was a customer of mine and, after much begging, I got them to do a run of tyres for me (and anyone else that was dying for the tyre). When I owned a Miura SV, owners used to get an order together for Pirelli to make the original tyres for us. Some of the manufacturers make "cheater tyres" (i.e., old tread design on new carcass) in certain sizes of popular vintage racing tyres, like 185R16. Pirelli and Michelin both do it in this size. But, they're very expensive not worth the money unless you're racing. If you're not, any decent tyre will do, unless you need/want a period correct look.

Steve

[william]

Jim, I'll call and ask for corky.


Timo, I'm pretty sure the tires are 10 -15 years old. I'll look for the DOM.

Steve, I just like the vintage look.

Thanks

[Dr. Ian Levy]

William
I spoke to both Lonstone & Vintage Tyres today & you are correct & Michelin, even on a limited run, have not made any XWX in your tyre size for a long time.
The only Michelin available are the XVS as you already know. They do have 185/70VR15 available but I think this would be the incorrect profile for your car.
I am fortunate that they still make 205/70VR15 for my GTC4
Please let us know what you decide to fit
Regards
Ian L

[william]

Ian, I'll let you know. I'm pretty sure I'll stay with a vintage type tire.

[Mike H]

Blockley tyres have recently introduced a VR rated radial tyre of period appearance in the following sizes:

165 VR 15" £120.00
185 VR 15" £140.00
205/70 VR 15" £150.00
185 VR 16" £170.00



I haven't tried them myself, but have heard good reports from a Jaguar owner, and their vintage tyres have an excellent reputation. Prices are pretty reasonable too compared to Michelins.

[John Vardanian]

They give the same impression as the Avon Turbosteel. How do they compare?

john

[Mike H]

As I say, I haven't used them myself, but there is a discussion of their merits here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... peed+tyres